‘His ascension was remarkable’: Davies evolves from teen phenom to Canada’s captain

Alphonso Davies left Vancouver as a grinning teenager on the edge of an adventure at one of the world’s biggest soccer clubs.

This summer, the Bayern Munich star is set to return as one of Canada’s best-ever talents and captain the country at its first FIFA World Cup on home soil.

Many of those who were on hand a decade ago when Davies made his professional debut aren’t surprised by the elite player he’s become.

“His ascension was remarkable,” said Russell Teibert, who played with the then-teenager both on the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Canadian national team. “As soon as you watched him dribble or sprint, you knew right away.”

Born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled civil war in Liberia, Davies grew up in Edmonton. He was just 14 when he signed with the Whitecaps’ academy.

Former ‘Caps broadcaster Peter Schaad remembers hearing from Carl Robinson, Vancouver’s coach at the time, that the club had inked the young athlete.

“To be honest with you, once I heard 14 and Edmonton, I kind of dismissed it a little bit because there’s a lot of phenoms, apparently, in this country. And that seemed so far away,” he said.

“It just didn’t really seem like it was relevant at the time. But then he started, pretty much when he arrived, playing on the (United Soccer League) team … and it was quite evident that physically, he matched up with men.”

Davies came into the club as a “young, super happy kid that just loved playing football,” said Jon Poli, Vancouver’s head of physical preparation.

“Obviously, he wasn’t fully developed yet. However, he was still already an absolute specimen of an athlete,” he said, adding that the teen already had a “really high” work rate.

“He has the blessing of being incredibly fast, but also having an incredible aerobic system, so he’s able to run very fast and also run very often.”

Davies made his professional debut on June 1, 2016, coming on in the 72nd minute of a Canadian Championship game against the Ottawa Fury.

He was 15 years, 212 days old at the time, making him the youngest player to appear in a game for the ‘Caps.

“I felt really confident,” he said after the game. “First touches on the ball were good. I wanted the ball more, and it was a really great experience for me.”

Weeks later, on July 15, the teen signed his first professional contract, a multi-year deal with Vancouver that made him the youngest active player in Major League Soccer. He played his first league game the next day, getting 13 minutes of action against Orlando City.

The emerging talent admitted that, at the beginning, playing against grown men could be intimidating.

“When I first started, I knew that age doesn’t matter, but it kind of does a little bit,” Davies said in 2018. “If you have the talent to play at that level, you should be playing.

“Now I feel I can compete with them. I can play really well against and with them.”

As he grew more comfortable, Davies began to dominate.

He made two starts over eight regular-season games in 2016, then saw nine starts over 26 appearances in 2017, registering one assist in the process.

In 2018, he broke out with eight goals and 11 assists over 31 games.

“He was always open. He was always running past people. And then he would add the finishing touches as well, the difficult, long-range strikes, the close- in chances,” Schaad said.

“He had those happy legs, I called them. It just felt like he could spring and run and accelerate, and it was so easy for him. And that’s when it started to become apparent, ‘Holy smokes, this kid is 17, and he’s making adults look foolish.’”

There were still signs, though, that Davies was a teenager, Schaad said.

The play-by-play man enjoyed getting to B.C. Place early and often, watched players walk across the field as he prepared for his call.

“(Davies) would be sprinting across the field with his toiletry bag, on his own and clearly running behind. It was comical,” Schaad said. “This is the thing you kind of forget with like a 16,17 year old, is that they’re just boys still practically.”

Teibert and Davies were road roommates for nearly two years, bunking while playing for both the Whitecaps and the national team.

During their downtime, they’d play Fortnite and watch all of the movies in the “Kung Fu Panda” series, Teibert remembers.

“You don’t really realize at that time that this kid you’re playing video games with is about to become Canada’s best player and a Champions League winner,” he said.

As he earned a name in MLS, Davies was ingratiating himself with the national team, too. He earned his first call-up in June 2017, shortly after receiving his Canadian citizenship.

He’s since made 58 appearances for the senior squad, scoring 15 goals and contributing 17 assists.

His biggest came in December 2022 when Davies notched Canada’s first-ever World Cup goal early in a group-stage match against Croatia.

Davies also helped the country’s World Cup bid, telling the FIFA Congress his story in June 2018.

“It was a hard life. But when I was five years old, a country called Canada welcomed us in,” he said. “And the boys on the football team made me feel at home.

“Today I’m 17 years old, and I play for the (Canadian) men’s national team. And I’m a proud Canadian citizen. And my dream is to someday compete in the World Cup, maybe even in my hometown of Edmonton.

“The people of North America have always welcomed me. If given the opportunity, I know they will welcome you,” he added.

By the summer of 2018, rumours were swirling that Davies would soon leave Vancouver to play in Europe, and that July, Bayern acquired him in a record-breaking transfer worth up to US$22 million.

Bayern great Thomas Muller remembers the first time he saw Davies on the training pitch.

“As everyone, I think, I remember thinking ‘Oh, this guy’s fast.’ It was just incredible to see him, how he can accelerate from nothing,” said Muller, who now plays for the Whitecaps.

“He’s a nice guy. Always energetic. He can play the game. He was very young and very raw when he came to Munich. But I think you could follow his development not only with Bayern but maybe also with the Canadian national team. He has grown as a man, not only as a player.”

Davies finished out the MLS season with Vancouver before moving to Germany, and reflected on his career before his final game with the Whitecaps.

“I remember like yesterday playing my first game,” the then 17-year-old star said with a grin, his teeth still clad in braces.

“I stepped on the field as a 15-year-old kid playing professional. It’s a dream come true. And now, I’m playing my last game. It’s a dream come true.”

The Canadian superstar continued to excel in the German Bundesliga, helping Bayern to six league titles, a UEFA Champions League title, and a FIFA Club World Cup title.

This week, Davies is back in Canada, preparing to help the country in its World Cup quest.

He missed the national squad’s training camp in Charlotte, N.C., to rehabilitate a hamstring injury, but joined his teammates in his hometown of Edmonton late Sunday night ahead of the team’s friendly against Uzbekistan on Monday.

“The minute he walks in the room, everyone’s going to be psyched to see him. It’s been too long,” said Canada head coach Jesse Marsch. “So the excitement for him to be here and the integration, that part’s all going to be easy because he brings energy, he’s excited to always be here, and he’s part of us, man. He’s a big part of us.”

Marsch has said it’s unlikely Davies will be in the lineup when Canada kicks off the tournament in Toronto on June 12 against Bosnia-Herzegovina. But the coach said he expects Davies to play in the World Cup.

Canada will continue its group stage matches in Vancouver, taking on Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.

Davies will be a key piece during the tournament, said Canadian midfielder Stephen Eustaquio.

“I think we need a player like that in our group, somebody that has been through these types of games and tournaments,” he said. “And I think with the quality he has, he’s ready to step up as a leader as well and show us the way.

“For me, as a personal opinion, I just can’t wait for him to be ready to help us push this tournament because we really need him. I think he’s one of the players in our team — there aren’t many but there’s a couple — that really can make us go far in this tournament. So I hope he recovers well. We’re going to be here with him to support him along the way. And I just can’t wait.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2026.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press